The present invention relates to a connecting part between a pedal plate and a heel plate of a foot pedal for operating musical instruments like a drum or cymbal, etc.
A foot pedal of a musical instrument is used during a performance for instance, for swinging the beater that beats the drum or by moving an operating rod of a high hat cymbal up and down.
As is shown in the prior art pedal of FIG. 7, this kind of foot pedal F1 comprises a pedal plate 100 which operates the beater or the operating rod for the performance of the musical instrument and the ground part or heel plate, which is connected to the rear of the pedal plate.
It is desirable for the foot pedal F1 to operate smoothly, without any sluggishness. For this purpose, the axle 300 is in axially spaced apart axle insertion holes 230 in the heel plate 200. A fixing nut 450 fixes the axle to the heel plate 200 by fixing screws 250. The axle 300 is held freely rotatably on the pedal plate 100 through a ball bearing 400 in axial receiving holes in the axle holder 130 of the pedal plate, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. There is a connector 110 at the free end of the pedal plate for connections to the operating part of the musical instrument (not shown). The axle holder 130 of the pedal plate 100 holds the axle. A nut 170 and a screw 160 respectively holding the bearing 400 to the axle holder.
This ball bearing structure, however, enables a movable angular range of the pedal plate 100 of the foot pedal F1 of at most approximately 10 degrees during a performance. In this case, the load of the rotation is concentrated at all times on a limited few of the ball bearings 400 (either one or two when the angle is approximately 10 degrees), despite the fact that the original purpose of the ball bearing 400 is to disperse the load over all of the balls that are stored and that receive the rotation of the axle 300.
The ball bearing 400 that can be used at the connection between the pedal plate 100 and the heel plate 200 of the foot pedal F1, in particular, is limited to a small size due to space and performance requirements. This concentrates the operating load on an extremely small part, thereby making it possible that the ball bearing 400 will break.
In addition, it is possible to obtain smooth operation by using such a construction of the connection. Because of this, however, that part for the escape of the force that is thereby applied disappears. This places a large burden not only on the ball bearing 400, but also on the fixed screw 250 that supports the axle 300 and on the axle 300 itself. As a result, bending or damage that may be inflicted on the axle 300 and the fixing screw 250 becomes a problem.
To solve such a problem, it becomes necessary to increase the strength not only of the ball bearing 400 but also of the various elements of the connection. As described above, however, various elements in this kind of foot pedal structures are of small size. Moreover, the loads that are applied to the various elements are different, depending upon the operation and strength of the performers, thereby making it extremely difficult to drastically improve the situation with this construction.